Utah!

(Photos courtesy of Erica's camera -- thanks darling!)

Grandma Chisholm and a Baptism

 Grandma Chisholm came from Oregon to meet James and attend his baptism.  Here they are meeting for the first time. 

 James getting dressed for his baptism in the same gown that Joshua wore when he was a baby.

 James's godparents are my cousin Peter and my best friend Kate.  A criminal defense attorney and a pediatrician, this kid is set!

 Alma with her godparents, Christine and Scott.

We are so blessed to be able to spend time with family and friends ... and especially our week with Grandma Chisholm!

Super Bowl Revisited

In 2008, we celebrated a Giant's win over the Patriots with Patrick, Carrie and the rest of my Loyola college gang of friends.  Yes, we made shirts -- one that read "Brady is a girl" -- a sentiment still holds true.  Since the Eagles cannot be in the Super Bowl this year, we are fully backing the Giants.  Go Big Blue!

Thank you, Doolers!

Look at this beautiful hand-made quilt from Krista to celebrate James's arrival!  Alma was so excited for it that she immediately requested that she and James lay down on it to act like babies.  Um, okay Alma. 

Thanks, Krista!  You are the best and we miss you!

And how much do the kiddos look like each other in this photo?!  Usually I feel like James looks like his own person, but then I see photos like this and know that they strongly resemble each other.  Button nose, big dark blue eyes, chin that can cut through a tin can, and the cutest cheeks ever?  Yup, they are siblings.

Visiting Pat, Carrie and Baby Joey

While Joshua endured the lack of heat for an extra day, Alma and I had a great time visiting Pat, Carrie and their five month-old son, who easily holds the crown for the cutest baby!

We spent the week enjoying another trick-or-treat night, strolling through the Air and Space Museum, visiting a great farm/petting zoo, eating good foods and playing in the park.  We are so blessed to have such awesome friends and a great visit.

Space Shuttle Endure

At the farm

First swing ride

The impossibly handsome family

Uncle "SOT!"

{Visiting the piglets at the farm where we picked our own pumpkins.}

Godfather Scott visited last weekend and Alma had a blast.  It was so fun to watch them bond.  We are so blessed to have Scott as a good friend and future mentor for Alma.

{Playing Angry Birds on Scott's ipod; She could not have laughed harder.}

Crayola Factory

Today Alma and I ventured over to Easton with our friends for another visit to the Crayola Factory. We went there in February and it was neat to see how many more things Alma could do this time around. Painting! Coloring! Enjoying more of the exhibits! It was great.

Best Friend

How much do we love that Alma's best friend in town is the cutest little redhead ever?  SO MUCH!! 

Vacation Wrap Up

We were lucky enough to have three straight weeks of vacation this summer.  Well, one week of "workcation" followed by one week of "memorialization" before a week of actual vacation.

Our first week was spent in Applegate, CA (near Sacramento) for Joshua's work conference.  The overarching organization that Joshua, through CUNA, works with, People Improving Communities through Organizing (PICO), is an international non-profit that encourages the employees to bring their families to the yearly week-long work conference.  I've been wanting to attend for years but this is the first time that the trip didn't interfere with my own employment.  Alma and I spent our days playing with the other 40+ kids in attendance and enjoying the beautiful Jesuit retreat center where the conference was held.  And, at night, Joshua and I would hang out on the patio overlooking the pond and share a crossword puzzle.

Sadly, Joshua's grandmother passed at the beginning of June, so we spent the next week with his family celebrating her life.  While it was a sad event, it was so nice to have some time with the Chisholm clan when we had not been planning a visit with them for this summer.  We were able to spend a day at Santa Monica beach (photo of Alma and me was snapped by Hayden!), some time in the backyard shooting cans with a BB gun, and Alma had plenty of time idolizing her cousin Hayden.

After a wild trip home -- three days of delayed flights, car rides interrupted with me getting sick on the side of the road (yes, that happened more than once), an eventual red-eye flight home with an overly tired toddler -- we were home for 20 hours before leaving for a trip up to the Adirondacks for a week of relaxing with Kate, Neal (a.k.a. Uncle Fun), their pup Rio and our dog Simon.  It was a week composed of all the greatest things: best friends (even Simon had his best friend), delicious food, and an amazing house right on Lake Paradox.  We spent days hiking, napping, watching the dogs swim until near-drowning fatigue and our nights were long games of Kate beating us at Settlers of Catan.